Syracuse punter Rob Long grips and rips it at Louisville

View full sizeFrank Ordoñez/The Post-StandardRob Long (47) had his two best punts of the year, only the Orange failed to cover either, which displeased head coach Doug Marrone

Syracuse, NY -- Head down, shoulders forward, the football extended as if to shake someone’s hand. Rob Long gently released the ball, timing it up to crash into his right foot. As leather met shoe, there was nothing. Long could barely feel the contact at the end of his follow-through. The ball launched into the Louisville sky with a trajectory that would carry it far, far away.

The Syracuse University kicker blasted back-to-back punts of 62 and 63 yards during the fourth quarter of a 10-9 loss to Louisville last Saturday. Both punts were fielded on the fly by the Cardinals’ Trent Guy, which means Long did not receive the benefits of any bounces. They were the longest punts of the season by Long and illustrated again why he’s got an NFL-caliber leg.

At dinner Friday night with the Orange in Louisville, Long looked up at a television in the restaurant to find his name appearing on an ESPN scroll at the bottom of the screen. The 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award, which is presented to the nation’s top punter, rolled by. One of those names was Rob Long of Syracuse.

The junior from Downingtown, Pa., is averaging 42.9 yards per punt this season which ranks him third in the Big East and 22nd nationally. He ranks fourth among active kickers in the Football Bowl Subdivision in career punting average at 43.4 yards per kick. If Long continues to punt like he did at Louisville, he will move up the national charts in a hurry. Scott Kozlowski of West Virginia leads the Big East and is fourth nationally with an average of 45.45 yards per punt.

Additionally, Long is handling kickoffs and is the Orange’s holder for on extra points and field goals.

“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him and more,” said Syracuse head football coach Doug Marrone. “He possesses qualities that everyone at the next level is looking for. Someone that can punt in the different styles – distance, sky punt, coffin corner as well as his kickoff ability and holding. A lot of teams in college need three people. We get that with one.”

Long said he has not been as long with his punts as he’d like this season, though he’s clearly got the leg strength. During preseason camp one day in the Carrier Dome, Long knocked a couple of punts off the speakers flying from the ceiling. The speakers in the West end zone hang 95 feet above the playing surface. The massive scoreboard hanging above the field at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium is 90 feet above the playing surface.

Long said he made some minor technical adjustments with his head and shoulders the last few weeks which have gotten him back on track. The payoff came at Louisville.

“I really felt like I wasn’t driving the ball down field like I should have been and I had been in the past,” Long said. “That whole week of practice, I really worked on getting the ball down field, still getting the hang time and just work on really driving that ball. I was really getting into it.”

The 6-foot-4 Long said he was instructed by Syracuse coaches to drive the ball on both punts in the fourth quarter. The plan was to cover the kicks and give Louisville the worst possible field position. Guy returned one kick 94 yards for a touchdown, though an official review overturned the play because his knee touched the ground as he contorted his body to catch the punt. The second punt by Long was returned 44 yards and set up the winning touchdown.

Marrone said Long placed both kicks within 5 yards of the sidelines. Long averaged more than 4 seconds hang time on both punts. Long said as “as simply as it might seem,” he can “promise everyone” that it’s not easy kicking the ball out of bounds. He said special teams coordinator Bob Casullo always tells him that if he can punt it out of bounds, do so.

“It falls upon me to make sure I get that ball out of bounds,” Long said. “Both times, you watch it, the ball is 2 yards from the sidelines. It’s one of those things, had he not caught it, they would have gone out of bounds. By the same token, it’s probably something I should have taken more attention to and made a better effort to kick the ball out of bounds and not let him return it, especially after the first one. It falls more on me than the coaches.”

Marrone criticized his coverage team for its failure to get down field and make the tackle on Guy.

“When you’re looking at distance and area on the field, that’s where you want to put it,” said Marrone, who called Long a cool customer dealing with the stresses of the snap, catch and punt.

Long said he hit the last two punts so well at Louisville, he was almost afraid to look. He barely felt the ball coming off the top of his instep and – by keeping his head down – was unsure if he’d hit it well or not.

“When its done right, it’s effortless,” Long said. “The ball just pops off the foot. There’s no forced effort. Everything was smooth. It feels good. It definitely feels good.”
What didn’t feel so good was watching Guy come back up the field. In both instances, Long was asked to make tackles. He missed on both, though he’s officially registered two unassisted tackles this season covering kicks or punts.

“Whether that’s good or not, I don’t know,” Long said. “It’s not an easy position to be put in with somebody who is clearly faster and more agile than me – and has a head of steam. It’s not an easy thing. It’s trying to take an angle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”